kanye west

We’ve had a bit of a cruel summer waiting for the G.O.O.D. Music crew to finish up their ultra-hyped collaboration. Today, we get a brand new glimpse of the album with the second single to Cruel Summer, due out, ironically, this fall (September 16th to be exact). Kanye West teams up with Big Sean and Jay-Z to jump on some banging Hit Boy production, giving us yet another posse cut from the talented crew. If you enjoyed “Mercy” like most people did considering it already went platinum, you’ll love “Clique”, which pretty much falls in the exact same alley. The three rhymers drop their sixteens, Yeezy and Sean Don take care of the hook, and “N–gas in Paris” producer Hit Boy returns to his familiar position behind the boards for the Kanye-led clique. Oh gawd!

Hit-Boy‘s second song as a rapper is the long-awaited, often-teased “Old School Caddy” collaboration with G.O.O.D. Music fam Kid Cudi. This time, the producer-turned-rapper got behind the tables himself to churn out his own production, which fits perfectly with Kid Cudi’s energetic Man On The Moon/A Kid Named Cudi era flow. Cudi is actually only on the song for about 36 seconds (one short verse after Hit-Boy spits his two), but his presence is huge, especially since Hit-Boy still sounds like he’s trying to find his voice and lane as a rapper. I’ve heard criticisms about Hit-Boy’s laid-back flow and voice inflection since he appears a bit lazy at times, but I think it works much better on “Old School Caddy” than on his debut “Jay-Z Interview”. The song title is certainly better.

You can download “Old School Caddy” for free below, courtesy of Hit-Boy himself. What do you think? Can Hit-Boy follow in his mentor Kanye‘s shoes or should he just stick to production? On a side note, how about Cudi’s return to rap?

G.O.O.D. Music will release their compilation album Cruel Summer on August 7th and the star-studded label is making sure that no one forgets. After premiering their new song on the BET Awards Show last night, the Louis Vuitton don Kanye West and his right-hand-man Pusha T have dropped the official studio version of “New God Flow”, available for streaming now via In Flex We Trust. “New God Flow” is yet another banger from the talented group of rappers, following in the footsteps of recent tracks “Mercy”, “Burn”, “Exodus 23:1”, and the remix of Chief Keef‘s “I Don’t Life”. Check it out below.

One of this year’s most anticipated short films (I say one because I’m hoping that Kanye‘s 7-screen short film for Cruel Summer will somehow leave Cannes and see a public release) was just released onto the internet. Directed by Anthony Mandler, the video for Lana Del Rey‘s “National Anthem” clocks in at just under 8 minutes and features the singer masquerading as both Marilyn Manson and Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Playing the part of JFK? None other than Harlem upstart A$AP Rocky, who does his best impression of the charismatic President, complete with suits, snapbacks, blunts, and more. It’s all rather surreal and, well, it has to be seen to be believed. It’s also probably going to spark quite a bit of controversy… but that’s another topic entirely.

Frank Ocean has the whole mysterious vibe down pat. Earlier this morning, the Odd Future-affiliated crooner posted a short snippet of a brand new song onto his Tumblr. He left no comment and from the video, we’re left to guess that the new song is called “TV” and will appear on a new release entitled Channel Orange, out on July 17th. The song features layered vocals and a dark, glitchy synth in the background. The two minute snippet features, unsurprisingly for Ocean, a BMW station wagon. Listen and watch for yourself below.

There’s a good chance that Channel Orange may be Frank Ocean’s first official release with Def Jam, which was previously rumored for release in the summer of 2012. Since releasing his shelved album Nostalgia, Ultra as a mixtape last year, the singer went on to gain internet stardom and two well-received features on Jay-Z and Kanye West‘s Watch The Throne. His first official single “Thinking Bout You” was released April 17, 2012 and may also be included on Channel Orange, although details are currently unknown at this time.

Hit-Boy takes a page from his G.O.O.D. Music co-conspirator and mentor Kanye West with his debut rap song, the oddly-titled “Jay-Z Interview”. After conquering the production world with bangers like “N–gas in Paris” and A$AP Rocky‘s “Goldie”, the famed producer is now starting his recording career as a rhymer. Below, you can listen to Hit-Boy’s rap debut alongside the visuals for the track, which includes cameos from Jay-Z, Kanye, Kid Cudi, and Rocky.

As promised after the release of Yeezy‘s new song “Theraflu” yesterday, the very first track off of the forthcoming G.O.O.D. Music collaboration album has been released to the masses. At around 8 pm Thursday night, New York radio legends DJ Clue and Funkmaster Flex both announced their intentions to play the new track, leading to a bit of a radio scuffle between the two extremely influential radio hosts. Nevertheless, we now have our first look at “Mercy”, a collaboration between the boss Kanye himself, Clipse‘s Pusha T, D-Town’s Big Sean, and 2 Chainz.

Interestingly enough, the song is being billed on iTunes as a Kanye song with features from the rest of G.O.O.D. Music. Upon listening though, “Mercy” sounds nothing like a pure Kanye song and is definitely a collaborative work. Lyrically, there isn’t much content here aside from the hearty dose of braggadocio from each rapper, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing when its delivered from rappers as technically talented as these guys are. You can grab it below and be sure to purchase the single on iTunes now.

Bam! Just about two hours ago, Funkmaster Flex premiered Kanye West‘s new song “Theraflu” on Hot 97. A collaboration with DJ Khaled, “Theraflu” has a bouncy vibe (produced by Hit Boy) that is extremely similar to Watch The Throne standout “N***as in Paris”. Bringing back his old school flow, Yeezy drops bars mentioning Amber Rose, Kim Kardashian (“And I’ll admit, I fell in love with Kim/ ‘Round the same time she fell in love with him”), and Kris Humphries (“Lucky I ain’t have Jay drop him off the team”). You can check out the song below.

“No one above the age of 21 was involved in the making of this album. This album was recorded in one 10 hour session. Thanks to our friends, family, loved ones and anyone who fucks with us.”

Avant-garde jazz trio BADBADNOTGOOD make their return today with the release of BBNG2, an eleven-song record composed of hip hop covers as well as original songs. This time around, the ridiculously talented Toronto group tackles the music of James Blake, Kanye West, and even Odd Future, but also contribute five new songs of original material that are even more appealing than their covers.

2011 was a whirlwind of a year for hip-hop trio The Dean’s List, who found themselves overwhelmed by all the hype surrounding the release of The Drive In and instant-hits “Dear Professor” and “La Vie”. The trio, who are currently gearing up for their first official album Generation X with aveNUE Music, have been promoting their music heavily ever since, attempting to branch out from the college crowd that was first drawn to their music and spreading a message of youth and rebellion to their listeners. We chopped it up with MC Sonny Shotz and producers DJ Mendoza and Mik Beats, who talked about changes in the music scene since The Dean’s List first came together in 2010, their preparations for April’s Generation X (which will contain no samples and will have a music video accompanying each song), and even their upcoming clothing line.

You guys have come a long way since releasing 2010’s Undeclared. What’s been the biggest change for you guys in terms of your music career?

Definitely the release of The Drive In. That was our breaking point and took us to a new level. The buzz we got off of that, an average artist would get from two to three well-marketed mixtapes.

When we released The Drive In and followed it up with the Pledge To Rage tour we got a sense of the appreciation for the project and really connected with our audience. It’s been a lot more personal ever since.

How did you balance school and music when The Dean’s List really started picking up?

It was definitely late nights and a lot of work. Some of us were still working one or two full time jobs as well. We really had to prioritize things and there were late nights with homework and what not, but it came to the point where we started to make a living off The Dean’s List and that became a priority.

We didn’t feel that the courses we were taking were really teaching us the modern music industry and were learning more on our own so we figured we should go more in that direction.

How hard do you think it is to stand out as an artist nowadays, when anyone can pick up a mic or a computer and start making their own music?

It is definitely really tough. People try hard to emulate an artist they look up and that often leads to copying them. A lot of people lack original material and just become a mimic of their favorite artist. We think you have to listen to a lot of different music and make YOUR music. It’s important to stay true to what you want to do and not be phony or fake.

Mik: I would have to say “La Vie.” I worked really hard on the mix for that, a lot of these techno tracks we can do a lot of production but it’s the mix that really brings it together.

Sonny: My favorite song to date is “The Dream” because it’s the most honest, and a very self-motivating song to me.

Mendoza: I would say “Burn It All” or “Dear Professor,” they have great stories behind them and were big songs for us. They are always great to perform and people recognize the song as soon as it drops.

If your new album Generation X were a person, who would it be?

It would be a hybrid between Will Smith, Steve Jobs and JFK.

Why did you choose to name the album Generation X?

The album Generation X really stemmed from the fact that we had the generation before us and we are a product of them and those that came before them. The melting pot that leads to us.

You guys just recently released “Youth”. How did you guys decide on using that song as the lead single?

It really fits what we are trying to accomplish. A big thing we discuss and stand for is the youth of our generation. Not giving a fuck is a theme of Generation X and this song represents a few sides of that mentality.

Will there be any samples on the new record? “Dear Professor” found a lot of love when it was released.

There will be songs in there that sound like there might be samples but they are actually not. We manipulated things to make them more us. There will be no samples on the album!

I’ve heard that a Dean’s List clothing line is now in the works. Can you provide any details about that and what we can expect to see?

We’re working with a lot of different artists. One of the main ones we’re working with is called Bandulu as well as Mendoza’s grandfather, who is an artist in a New Mexico. We are going to put a stylish twist on our merchandise and not make it just a “band store,” but something that stands alone and makes a statement. The clothes will be something our fans can feel a part of and represents them.

What are your next plans for your music?

There will be a lot of music videos off of Generation X. It’s all about Gen X now! We plan to do a video for every song.

Thanks for taking the time to talk. Any last words?

Thank you for the interview and we appreciate all the support. Follow us on Twitter @followdeanslist and Facebook/itsthedeanslist and Generation X is out on April 3rd!